Another chapter is here!

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A deep roar sounded from Naruto's mouth as he lunged towards Kabuto, bounding off an overturned tree. The spot where his shroud touched it began to grow cancerously, twisted bulbs forming from where the corrupted chakra suffused the tree's cells and mutated them towards a ruinous end. That was the fate of anything without a sufficient protection against the corrosive chakra of the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra.

It wasn't a battle. It couldn't be. Not when Naruto's current state wasn't that of a human, but of a beast wrapped in a boiling shroud of murderous desire that eclipsed human understanding. And the longer he lingered in this state, the more his thoughts were drowned in the crimson sea of rancor, making it harder for him to come back in the end.

His charge was currently akin to that of a maddened predator pursuing a fleeting prey, swiping at Kabuto with his sharpened claws without giving a moment of respite. He had an innate understanding that if he connected enough times the traitor would die. All he had to do was break the skin and let the bubbling chakra that composed his shroud sink into it, and that would be the end of it.

The invasive chakra would eat at his muscles, making them rip themselves apart under his own weight. His organs would fail utterly, a cascading cessation of bodily functions that would leave him nothing more than a meat puppet to be torn apart at the beast's leisure. It would burn away Kabuto's chakra network from the corrosiveness, attacking him on a spiritual and physical plane.

The medic was very well-informed of how chakra interacted with the human body, including using a thin layer of his own to prevent any of it from leaking into his tenketsu by proximity. However, given the sheer amount that coated Naruto, if he broke through his flesh and hit a major organ then that would be the end. So, with deceptive ease, Kabuto continuously outmaneuvered him to find an opening.

The beast roared in frustration at not being able to touch the medic, and the shroud bubbled even more violently. He had to move faster if he was going to catch the slippery shinobi, and a second tail emerged in response to that desire for bloodshed. When Naruto moved this time, the frenzied pace outstripped his previous speed.

Needless to say, Kabuto did his damndest to avoid being caught by Naruto after one of the claws managed to tear into the cloth of his shirt before he could Body Flicker away, blood leaking from the rends in his flesh. He tried to sink into the earth and escape below the ground, but Naruto's response to that was to thrust his arms into the earth and let the shroud engorge before pulling upwards. It upturned entire tracts of land and uprooted dozens of trees, sending the medic airborne with the rotted dirt before he started running again.

Naruto's breathing became ragged and his eyes bloodshot as he continued to lash out and chase Kabuto. The screams of his muscles and body that said going any faster wasn't possible were met with a surge of the fox's chakra, pushing them even further to keep up with his bloodlust and raise his speed and strength. It was self-destructive in the long run, but for the sake of killing his enemy it was acceptable….

Then he heard Karin's scream in the distance.

[0-0-0]

Sakura's jaunt through the forest came to a stop far from the distant crashing, when they heard a familiar whimpering sound. "Is that… Akamaru?"

"If it's a pup, then yes." Pakkun sniffed the air and pointed slightly to the west. "There are a couple of people over that way, some dead."

Sakura immediately went that way and stumbled past two corpses, reduced to mere husks riddled with a pox of markings and welts. She came across a gruesome scene, the ground cratered by what looked to be a number of explosions, blood and gore, and scattered weapons, with her peers lying on the ground around them. Her stomach dropped at the sight, while the ninja pug trotted through the gore unperturbed and laid a paw on Shino's neck.

"Alive." Pakkun then went to Shikamaru and did the same before nodding. "They're both alive."

Sakura released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding when Akamaru started yipping again. The pup was on the ground by Kiba, who was slouched against a tree in an uncomfortable position, his face scrunched up in pain despite being unconscious. The white fur of the pup was muddy, dirt covering it from where it dragged itself towards him.

Pakkun went over to Akamaru, noted it was putting as little weight as it could on one leg in particular, and then asked. "What happened?"

Akamaru barked a few times rapidly, with Pakkun nodding his head along. Sakura guessed that since they were dogs they could understand each other. After that, he went over to Kiba and unceremoniously bit him on the leg.

"OW!" Kiba shot right up and grabbed his leg. Then he glared at the ninja pug that looked blasé about having bitten him. "What the Hell was that for?"

"Because you're the only one who can still move," he said. "The others need a medic before they'll be able to. According to the pup here, some corpse-scented four-eyes came and did something to them and they aren't responding."

"Where'd the son of bi—agh!" The moment he tried to push himself off the tree and get up, a flash of pain crossed his face. Kiba brought a hand to his shoulder as Sakura closed the distance between them. "Damn, it's dislocated. Sakura, you mind?"

She grabbed his arm. "I just push it in?"

"Yeah," he said. "Don't hold back."

Sakura gave him a moment to grit his teeth before she did so. The pop could be heard by all there. "Better?"

He rolled it around and then nodded, hopping back to his feet. That was when a deep, reverberating roar came from the direction that Sakura had heard the earlier crashing sounds coming from. "What was that?"

"It's Naruto," Pakkun said. "From the smell and sound, I'd say he's fighting that guy that attacked you right now."

"He is?" Kiba asked, rubbing the back of his head. "The last thing I remember was after that bastard hit me into the tree. He was telling Naruto to come with him or he'd do something to that red-headed girl we'd caught before I passed out."

A look of surprise crossed Sakura's face and she stood up. "Wait, Karin was here? Where—" her voice died when she looked off to the side to see Byakko's mask on the ground, and even further was the charred and Cursed Mark-laden body of what looked to be Naruto's clanswoman. "Oh no."

She ran over to her and kneeled onto the ground, pressing her fingers to the girl's neck. "She's barely got a pulse," Sakura said when Pakkun walked up to her. "If we don't do something fast she'll die."

Not that she was certain what she could do given the scope of her injuries, with the year-older girl's breathing so soft it was nearly none-existent. However, the moment Sakura lifted her hand, the charred and torn sleeve of Karin's shirt slid down to reveal an impression of teeth in her skin. It immediately brought to mind the library visit—truth in myths—and if that was the case….

"It's better than doing nothing," Sakura decided as she pressed down on Karin's chin to open her mouth. Then she brought the girl's forearm to her mouth and fixed it between her teeth. Placing her hand beneath her jaw, Sakura took a deep breath before she pushed it up as hard as she could.

Karin's entire body jerked violently. Her flesh mended, all traces of the burns vanishing as healthy tissue replaced the damaged ones, and her eyes snapped open. Then she started screaming as dark lightning crackled over her body. The seal that had been meant to punish her had only gone dormant while she was unconscious, once more tormenting her for the very act that saved her life.

"Ah!" Sakura stepped back in surprise, releasing Karin's arm.

Karin stopped moving when it hit the ground, lying flat on the surface. Awake now, her breathing was audible as she gazed around without moving her head in search of someone or something. Then she closed her eyes and tensed, abruptly yelling at the top of her lungs, "NARUTO, STOP!"

The warning came in time as Sakura felt a murderous shadow being cast over her and turned to see that Naruto had come out of nowhere. His now-clawed hands, shrouded in a thick layer of boiling crimson chakra, stopped just a few inches from her head mid-swing. A second later and he would have taken it off her shoulders.

"Sa…ku…ra?" His eyes squinted until recognition dawned and then widened in horror. He stepped back, shaking his head furiously as the dense layer of chakra covering him evaporated. When it was all gone, his features returning to normal, he fell onto his hands and knees panting.

"I'm sorry," he said, casting his eyes onto the ground. "I… I couldn't tell it was you. I was so angry that everything went red… and when I heard Karin screaming, and I… I couldn't think right…"

"…What was that?" Sakura asked after a pause, causing him to flinch.

"It's an S-Class secret," Pakkun stated firmly before he could answer. "Don't press him on it, especially not now."

Naruto turned his head towards the unfamiliar voice. "Who are you?"

"I'm one of Kakashi's nin-dogs," he said. "I was sent to help track your teammate when we found these guys lying here and the girlie stopped."

"Is he nearby?" Naruto asked. "We might need him. Kabuto is working for that snake-creep from the Forest of Death, and he a lot stronger and faster than he looks. I barely managed to touch him. If he comes back now—"

"He's running," Karin told him. "I can feel it. Some of your chakra is in his system and he's running away, probably to get somewhere he can purge or dilute it before it causes lasting damage. He's almost out of my range at this point."

Naruto audibly breathed a sigh of relief. Sakura remembered Kabuto as the boy they'd met in the Chuunin Exams and at the market. Was he really that strong?

"I'm glad you're okay," Naruto continued, speaking gently to Karin. "I thought you were—"

"I hate to break up this touching moment," Pakkun interjected. "But right now you've got bigger things to worry about—like the fact that the Uchiha is still further ahead, and I'm picking up a lot of ozone from where he is, meaning he's fighting with a lot of Lightning Chakra."

Naruto looked from him to Sakura and then Karin. "Can you tell what's happening from here?"

"Yeah," Karin said. "I can feel that the Uchiha is fighting that Gaara-boy further ahead. His chakra… it's tainted a bit, like I've felt from other people who have the Cursed Mark when they're at a first stage. And Gaara feels like he's partially-transformed now, the Tailed-Beast's chakra is covering his body in an outline. I don't think the Uchiha will last long."

Sakura sucked in a sharp breath. It was clear from what she was saying, and how Naruto reacted to that, that the two of them were more informed of the situation. The fact that she was covered in these markings gave Sakura an inkling of an idea, but she couldn't sit there and think on it much longer. She jumped up to her feet and moved to head towards Sasuke's direction when Naruto grabbed her.

"You'll die!" Naruto warned. "I'll go and save Sasuke. You stay here and keep the others safe."

"You're barely standing," Sakura pointed out. He was so light on his feet that it looked like a strong breeze could blow him down. "I'm the least tired and can still fight."

"It's got to be me," Naruto insisted. "Sasuke would never forgive me or himself if we let you die."

"I'm done being coddled, Naruto!" Sakura all-but yelled as she broke free of his grip too easily. "I… I didn't go through helping you and training with the others after the Forest of Death just to leave my teammates to fight again while I stay on the sidelines!"

"In the first place, this is a rescue mission," Pakkun stated factually, looking between the two of them. "Our objective is to get him out of the battle alive. The longer you squabble over who is protecting who, the more likely he'll die by the time it's settled."

"Then we go together," Sakura decided. "I can cover our escape by layering a Genjutsu over the surroundings like those guys from Hidden Rain did to us in the Forest of Death."

Naruto looked like he wanted to say otherwise, but didn't.

"Naruto," Karin called, grabbing their attention. She swallowed a deep breath and then continued. "Bite me and take Byakko. Your body should be healed enough that the extra chakra bleeds into your reserves and gives you back some of your stamina. Use that to reconstitute Byakko, get your teammate, and run."

"But, if I move you—"

"I'll deal with it," she said. "It'll hurt, but I'd rather deal with the short-term pain that let you go there without helping while I can. Take my pouch too—the supplies inside of it should be able to help you as well."

Sakura watched as Naruto's face settled into a somber mask. He knew it would cause her unimaginable pain, but couldn't refute that he needed all the help he could get after exhausting himself. Not if he didn't want his teammates to die.

"I'm sorry," he said, taking a step forward and kneeling on the ground. Wordlessly and delicately, he took her arm with one hand and winced as the dark streamers of lightning punished her for the movement. His other snaked to get her pouch from underneath her.
Karin gritted her teeth and screwed her eyes shut while that was happening, doing her best not to scream at the pain. Even more so when Naruto bit down on her arm near where Sakura forced her to bite herself earlier. Suddenly all the exhaustion in his body seemed to vanish as he immediately set her hand down and Karin let out a laborious whimper, tears falling down the corner of her eyes from the pain.

"Don't forget these," said Kiba from behind them. They turned to see that he was holding Naruto's pouch and weapons holsters in one hand. He tossed them to Naruto. "I don't understand half of whatever is going on, but I'll watch over everyone here until we can get back to the village safe and sound."

"…Thanks," Naruto said as he caught them and strapped them back into place. He grabbed the mask, poured the chakra that had sunken into his body into it, and then dashed his bloody thumb on the back of the mask.

Byakko reemerged, this time under Naruto's control. Sakura mounted the tiger after Naruto took the front, with Pakkun leaping up on the head and pointing them onwards. With one final look behind, Naruto gave the word and Byakko shot towards the direction of the fight as fast as possible.

[0-0-0]

Sasuke felt the prickly sensation of the Cursed Mark consuming the left half of his body, spreading its roots deeper within and supplanting his own chakra with a different source—a second well of power that brought his physical abilities to a greater height. It was because of that he could move quickly enough to dash in, slice through that transformed Sand Armor that made up Gaara's current form with his lightning-coated chakra blade, and dash away before being caught in its retaliation.

Even with the change in his form, Gaara's weakness hadn't change from the match before. He was still too slow. His reflexes were not on the same level of his offensive power, and his automatic defense seemed to be non-functional after taking this form, leaving him vulnerable to a blitz. Using the surrounding trees as his bouncing board and his Sharingan to map a path, he forced himself to move with as fast as he could, cleaving with quick strokes that ate away at the Sand Armor faster that he could replace it.

"Stand still!" roared the partially-transformed Jinchuuriki as his temper flared, reaching a breaking point where he raised spines of hardened sand from the ground surrounding him, in an effort to impale the Uchiha as he rushed in. They were deftly avoided, only for there to be a flash of lightning as the blade cleaved through them all and left a deep cut through his thickened torso. There was a spray of blood from the tender flesh beneath it. "Rrggaaahhhh!"

I have to end this! Sasuke thought to himself. There was a limit to how long he could move like this before his body broke down. The chakra blade was doing an admirable job so far, but it wasn't enough. It wouldn't be enough as long as he could move.

Chidori would be best. It would punch through that Sand Armor entirely and then through the body beneath it. But the time it took to charge would take too long, and after a certain point he wouldn't be able to condense enough lightning chakra to use it.

He was torn from his musings as Gaara swept his arms out and fired clumps of hardened sand like a hail storm that tore through the surrounding land. He dodged it as best he could, but the sheer amount led to him being clipped on the forearm and a sickening crack was heard as it broke. Sasuke stumbled into the ground, only to immediately spring to his feet before his opponent could capitalize on it.

It was still too slow. Gaara's extended hand grabbed hold of Sasuke and lifted him into the air. "NOW I'M GOING TO WRING THE LIFE OUT OF YOU!"

Sasuke felt the pressure closing in and growing tight. The way it was pressing into his broken arm left him unable to hold his voice in from the pain. "Agggggaahh!"

"THAT'S IT! SCREAM!" His grip grew tighter and his lips peeled back to reveal his fangs. "I WANT TO HEAR YOU CRY OUT AND BEG FOR MERCY UNTIL THE END!"

Sasuke refused to give him the luxury of that and tightened his throat. He wouldn't die like this! Not like this! Not before he killed his brother!

That was the moment that a number of kunai wedged themselves into the base of the arm, explosive tags detonating and blowing the sand-forged limb from the main body. The partially-transformed jinchuuriki screamed as he pulled back a bloody, human limb. The arm only remained intact because of the density of the sand covering it prior, but he wouldn't be using it again anytime soon.

Sasuke fell to the ground, still shrouded in sand. He used what was left of the chakra within the Cursed Seal, releasing it all in a burst from his body to blow away the sand covering him. Then he rose to his knees panting, his muscles in agony, as the expended chakra caused the Cursed Seal markings to retract and left Sasuke exhausted.

And when he raised his head to look upon the newly cast shadow, he found Naruto and Sakura astride the white tiger between him and his enemy….